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Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Oh goodness...

As promised, here is the update on the chicken situation.

Unbeknownst to me, the farm got a visit from animal control the night before we were supposed to pick up our chickens. The farm sent a late-night email to families letting us know that the chick program was cancelled because State law dictates that they are not permitted to release any animals under 3 weeks old (despite the fact that he farm gets all of their chickens when they are under 3 weeks old) to anyone for any reason.

They apologized to the families and offered 3-week-old chickens to families who are still interested.

Dear Husband, Bro, Bri, and I arrived to the farm on a gorgeous Saturday morning.

The staff was polite and gracious and humble and totally wonderful as they explained the situation to those of us who had not read their email.

I was heart broken and not about to take home a half-grown chicken. Nope! Not happening!

We hung out for a little bit and checked out the farm.

I watched my son drool over the livestock on the other side of the fence. I think he could have stared over that fence for hours. I have no doubt that he is a future farmer.

Even baby Bee seemed to really enjoy the sights.

The farmers brought out the baby chicks and I was shocked and amazed at how gentle baby Bee was with them... I mean totally shocked... as "gentle" is not in her vocabulary.

When it came time to leave (without a chicken - wink, wink) I gave a cheerful, "Okay guys. Wasn't that fun? Let's go!" {{yippee}}

And, Brody replied, "But Mom, what about our chicken? We are supposed to babysit a chicken."

"No, no, no. They said that we can't take the baby chickens. We only get to take the big chickens. So, we aren't going to take on home with us. Okay buddy?"

"No - I want a chicken. I want to babysit her."

So, we took her home....

... we gave her a name... ahem... "Nugget"... and showed her how to play with the LeapPad.

We had to lift up the flaps on the box (to make the sides taller) because she was perched on the side of the box within minutes of her arrival.

We also took her outside to play.

The kids just love her. Even my teen wants to keep her.

Here is a great video from CNN on urban chicken farming. Have you ever heard of a chicken diaper? You have now - watch the video. Oh my goodness.